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BULLETIN OF THE MILWAUKEE 
BUREAU OF ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 



NO. 17 



RECREATION SURVEY 



MILWAUKEE, WIS. 
MARCH 31, 1912 



MILWAUKEE 
BUREAU OF ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 

DIRECTORS 
John R. Commons B. M. Rastall 

Leslie S. Everts 

SECRETARY 
John E. Treleven 



CONSULTING EXPERTS 
ORGANIZATION 

Major Charles Hirie Harrington Emerson 

V. P. and Gen'l Mgr. Consulting Efficiency Engineer 

So. Pac. and Ariz. Eastern Rys. New York 

ENGINEERING 

F. E. Turneaure Louis E. Reber 

Dean College of Engineering The University of Wisconsin 

The University of Wisconsin Formerly Dean College of Engineering 

Pennsylvania State Cdllege 

ACCOUNTING 

S. W. Gilman Peter White 

The University of Wisconsin Accounting and Finance Counsel 

Consulting Accountant President Tart's. Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency 
Inquiry into Economy and Efficiency 

HEALTH AND SANITATION 

H. L. Russell W.T.Sedgwick 
Dean College of Agriculture Head Department Public Health 

The University of Wisconsin , and Biology 

Massachusetts Institute or 1 echnoiogy 

FINANCE AND TAXATION 

T. S. Adams H. R. Sands 

Member of Wisconsin Tax Commission Director Chicago Bureau Public Efficiency 



SOCIAL SURVEY 



H. H. Jacobs 
University Settlement, Milwaukee 



MILWAUKEE 
BUREAU OF ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 

Created by Common Council 
For the Investigation of Departmental Accounts and Methods. 
Resolution Adopted June 14, 1910. 



BULLETIN NO. 17 



RECREATION SURVEY 



BY 

ROWLAND HAYNES 

Field Secretary of the 
Playground and Recreation Association 
of America 



REPORT MADE FOR THE 

BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS 

AND THE 
CHILD WELFARE COMMISSION 



MILWAUKEE, WIS. 

March 31, 1912 

PUBLISHED SEMI-MONTHLY 
Entered as Second Class Matter Oct. 27, 191 1 at the 
Post Office at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 
under the Act of July 16, 1894. 



scope' of report 



The task assigned in the invitation given by the Child Wel- 
fare Commission covered two main topics : first, the gathering 
of a certain amount of information relative to recreation con- 
ditions in Milwaukee ; second, the formation of some compre- 
hensive plan whereby the various city departments whose work 
touches the recreational life of the community might together 
secure the most efficient results. The commission for this sur- 
vey made by the representatives of the Board of School Direc- 
tors called for information on two main topics : first, on what 
the children and young people of Milwaukee were actually 
doing for receation, with an account of the facilities furnished 
in the way of out-of-door space for play, and of commercial 
and other amusements ; second, on the facilities under the con- 
trol of the Board of School Directors and their adaptability 
for wider use for recreation purposes outside of school hours. 
This report combines the reports submitted to these two boards 
and omits certain details in the discussion of the use of certain 
parts of the school plant for recreation purposes contained in 
the manuscript report to the Board of School Directors. 



PART I— FINDINGS 



DENSITY OF POPULATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF YOUNGER 
ELEMENT IN DIFFERENT WARDS 



Density of 
Population 



Preparatory to the survey of the outdoor 
play space in different parts of the city, a 
study was made of the density of population 
and of the proportion of children and young people to the 
total population in the different wards. Table I shows the den- 
sity for each ward based on the population as given by the 
1910 census and on ward areas given by the City Engineer's 
office. From this table it is seen that the average number of 
people per acre for the entire city is 23.9 and that Wards 1, 
2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15 were from 2 to 35 persons per 
acre above the city average. 

TABLE I. 

DENSITY OF POPULATION PER ACRE — MILWAUKEE, 1910. 

Amt. per acre above 



Ward 


Area 
Acres 


Population 
1910 


Population 
per acre 


or below city aver- 
age of 23.9 per acre. 


1 


290.26 


9,709 


33.4 


9.5 + 


2. . . . 


239.73 


10,023 


41.8 


17.9 + 


3 


236.11 


6,252 


26.4 


2.5 + 


4. . . . 


354.21 


10,502 


29.6 


5.7 + 


5 


532.34 


10,163 


19.0 


4.9— 


6 


498.51 


14,002 


28.0 


4.1 + 


7 


261.02 


7,566 


29.0 


5.1 + 


8 


552.24 


11,251 


20.3 


3.6— 


9 


313.39 


18,472 


58.9 


35.0 + 


10 


396.56 


19,033 


48.0 


24.1 + 


11 


1,038.38 


30,163 


29.0 


5.1 + 


12 


723.03 


13,528 


18.7 


5.2 + 


13 


528.63 


20,318 


38.4 


14.5 + 


14 


867.54 


32,542 


37.5 


13.6 + 


15 


574.79 


17,233 


29.9 


6.0 + 


16 


682.92 


14,507 


21.2 


2.7 — 


17 


1,076.89 


15,523 


14.4 


9.5— 


18 


1,512.90 


19,602 


12.9 


11.0 — 


19 


651.13 


14,220 


21.8 


2.1 — 


20 


1,360.60 


26,885 


19.7 


4.2 — 


21 


929.85 


21,074 


22.6 


1.3 — 


22 


1,099.83 


19,078 


17.3 


6.6— 


23 


712.00 


12,211 


17.1 


6.8 — 


Total 


15,222.86 


373,857 







Note: Ward lines are those in force in 1910. 



5 



The table is deceptive in regard to Ward 3. The density 
appears only slightly above the city average, but when it is 
remembered that this ward is taken np largely with buildings 
other than residences and that a large proportion of the popu- 
lation, probably at least two-thirds, is crowded into the six- 
teen blocks bounded by Michigan, Milwaukee and Erie 
Streets and the railroad tracks, the density in that section 
which is used for residence purposes is found to be 59.1 per 
acre, or 35.2 above the average for the city. 



Thus it is found that there are certain wards where the den- 
sity is high but the percentage of children and young people 
is low, and the immediate demand for outdoor recreation is 
less than that for other forms. Table II, based on the school 
census of 1911, shows what per cent of the population of each 
ward is between 4 and 19 years. From this table it is apparent 
that the wards where the largest percentage of children and 
young people live are Wards 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 
21 and 22. Ward 3 appearing on account of special conditions 
already noted. These wards are those near or much above the 
city average of 31% of the population between 4 and 19 years 
of age. 

When these two tables are compared it is found that Wards 
10, 11, 13 and 14, are above the average of the city both in den- 
sity of population and in the percentage of young people to the 
population of those wards. Ward 9 has a very high density, 
the highest of any in the city, and also a percentage of chil- 
dren and young people within one point of the average for the 
city. Ward 3 is high in density when the amount of space de- 
voted to homes or free for non-commercial uses is considered. 

OUTDOOR PLAY SPACES 

Since time and facilities were lacking for covering the en- 
tire city in this investigation, certain neighborhoods were se- 
lected for intensive study. These districts called " soundings," 



Distribution 

Youthful 

Population 



The density gives a hint of where there is 
the least space for outdoor recreation, but 
the kind of recreation which will appeal de- 
pends largely on the ages of the people. 



6 



were chosen from three of the wards where density and per- 
centage of children were both high. Each "sounding" corre- 
sponded to a district of the school census of June, 1911, from 
which was learned the number of children and young people 
of different ages in the selected districts. Each district was 
carefully surveyed to learn the amount of available public and 
private play space ; to learn how much private space was occu- 
pied by gardens, lawns, storage and yards, and thus not avail- 
able for play ; to learn how much private space was cut up into 
lots too small for play use ; to learn the number and condition 
of the streets and alleys and their safety or danger on account 
of traffic use. Table III gives the results of these studies. 

In explanation of the table a word should be 

CMWren "ve^TefJf said as to now the %ure 300 is arrived at as 
the number children who can play on an 
acre. Thirty square feet per child, which was the minimum set 
down by the London School Board, allows only about room 
enough for a child to stand and swing his arms about. For 
active games and genuine play much more space is needed. 
One hundred and twenty children per acre can play basket 
ball, and 200 children per acre can play indoor baseball. If 
these are accepted as typically active games requiring a small 
amount of space, and the chinks not occupied by these games 
are filled in with ring games, which occupy less space, the 
above figure is arrived at. Experience has shown that 300 
per acre is a high saturation point for play space. With more 
than that some of the children must stand around, crowded out 
of a chance to join in the fun. On the same basis, in the table 
25x25 feet is taken as the smallest interspace usable for play, 
since this is the smallest space four or five children can play 
upon together for any considerable time. 

In this table the most noticeable facts are: 
Number of cwidren first, the small amount of public and private 
bystreets* Play P^y space aside from streets and alleys, this 

play space varying from less than one per 
cent to 4.7 per cent of the total area of the districts; second, 
the large number of the children from 4 to 15 years of age who 



7 



must play in the streets and alleys, or go out of their home 
neighborhood for play, or not play at all, this number varying 
from 49 to 84 per cent of total number of children in the given 
districts ; third, the large amount of space taken up by streets 
and alleys, a little over one-third of the total area of each dis- 
trict; and fourth, the large amount of this street and alley 
space not used by heavy and fairly continuous traffic but only 
by delivery traffic, such intermittently used street and alley 
space varying from 69 to 89 per cent of total street and alley 
space. 

Sounding 3 in Ward 14 contains a good 
Leadership Needed school yard and several vacant lots, while 
Available ace directly across its northern boundary is the 

playground in Kosciusko Park. One Satur- 
day morning this district was gone over to learn where the 
children were playing. Four hundred and fifty-nine children 
were seen who were not working, but none of these were in 
the school yard, and none of them were in the park playground. 
Thirty-eight were in the vacant lots, fifty-five were in private 
yards, and the remainder seen, or 366, were in the street, some 
playing, but most of them doing nothing. With proper play 
leadership the school yard, which offers a good space, and the 
park playground, which is fitted up for smaller children, and 
certain parts of the vacant lots, could be used up to the limit 
of their capacity. 

THEATRES AND MOVING PICTURE SHOWS 

Since out-of-door play occupies the time of only a part of 
the young people, chiefly those under 15 years of age, and since 
it occupies the chief time of that part for only certain of the 
more open weather months of the year, it is necessary to look 
into certain much patronized indoor amusements, chief among 
which are the theaters and moving picture shows. These places 
of amusement are of two main classes, neighborhood houses 
which draw chiefly from districts nearby, and down town houses 
which draw from all over the city. Table IV shows the geogra- 
phical distribution of the neighborhood theaters, and classifies 
all the theaters according to type of performance usually pre- 
sented. 



8 



TABLE IV. 

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION THEATERS AND MOVING PICTURE 

SHOWS. 

Neighborhood Theaters 





South 


W. & North 


East 


Down 






Side 


Sides 


Side 


Town 


Total 


Moving picture houses 


11 


31 


1 


7 


50 


Vaudeville theaters 


1 


1 





3 


5 




1 








1 


2 


Burlesque theaters 











2 


2 


Drama (' 'legitimate") theaters. 











3 


3 


Total 










62 



Table V shows the estimated weekly attend- 
Metiiod of ance at different kinds of theaters. These 

Estimating 

Attendance figures are estimates and not guesses. In 

the case of houses other than moving picture 
shows the capacity was learned from the Building Inspector. 
The theaters were visited at different hours during the week 
and percentage of capacity in attendance noted. From the ca- 
pacity and from the number of times per week the houses were 
filled the average weekly attendance was computed. 

The capacity of the moving picture houses was found as 
follows : 



Known capacity of the 7 downtown moving picture houses 

(from Building Inspector) 5,930 

Known capacity of 25 "neighborhood" moving picture houses 

(from Building Inspector) 11,135 



Estimated capacity of the remaining 18 of the 43 "neighbor- 
hood" moving picture houses, computed on the basis of 
the average capacity of the 25 given above 8,010 



Total capacity of moving picture houses in the city 25,075 

In order to learn the weekly attendance at moving picture 
shows, the average weekly attendance as given by the man- 
agers of 14 of the 43 neighborhood houses of this class was 
taken. In each case this average weekly attendance was com- 
pared with the capacity of the given house, and was found 
to vary from 4.3 times the capacity up to 14 times the capa- 
city, averaging 8.4 times the capacity each week. Any one 
who has visited this class of performance in various parts of 
the city and at various hours will be convinced that this is a 



9 



conservative figure. A continuous performance is given and 
the audience shifts wholly or in part several times each even- 
ing, with extra large attendance on Saturday and Sunday after- 
noons and evenings. One careful computation reaches the fig- 
ure of 11 times the capacity per week as an average. Since it 
is the purpose of this report to err, if at all, on the side of under 
statement rather than on the side of exaggeration, the smaller 
figure of 8.4 has been taken. The total capacity of moving pic- 
ture houses in the city multiplied by this figure gives a total 
average attendance per week at this class of houses of 210,630. 
The reports of what several hundred school children do in 
their spare time, which are summarized in later paragraphs of 
this report, show that many of them attend from 1 to 5 shows 
of this kind per week, and the attendance figure of 210,630 
does not seem at all exaggerated. 

table v. 

AVERAGE WEEKLY ATTENDANCE AT MILWAUKEE SHOW HOUSES. 



Total l-S a> 1 « o - 

Kind of Theater. Capacity. to^g a® 

o <!!><! P4j»(litf 



Moving picture houses 


25,075 


Continuous 


210,630 


60.2 


Vaudeville theaters 


6,523 


14 to 


22 


75,432 


21.6 


Melodrama theaters 


3,029 




9 


17,565 


5.0 




2,682 




14 


24,138 


6.9 


Drama ("legitimate") theaters 


4,923 


4 to 


9 


21,908 


6.3 



Total 42,232 349,673 100. 



It is important to note the distribution of 
Most popular attendance at different types of perform- 

pTrTormance ance - 0f tne 349,673 people who attend each 

week in Milwaukee 60% are going to mov- 
ing picture shows and 21% to the vaudeville performances. In 
other words four-fifths of the show going public patronize these 
forms of entertainment. 

It is particularly suggestive to visit these 
Saturday and places of amusement on Saturday or Sunday 

crowds Evemns evening, when after the week's work is over, 

large numbers take their recreation in 



10 



this way. Between 8 and 9 o'clock on either Saturday or 
Sunday evening all the theaters are open, vaudeville houses 
are in the middle of their first evening performance, and the 
moving picture shows are getting the largest percentage of their 
attendance. At this hour it is safe to say that at least 37,875 
are in attendance at some performance of this kind at one time. 
This emphasizes two things: first, the popular hour for social 
entertainment; and second, the very considerable part played 
in the recreation life of the city by this type of amusement. 

Observations were taken of the proportion 
ASdieSces °^ P e °pl e °f different ages at the different 

kinds of performances, and are summarized 
in Table VI. It will be observed that in all forms of entertain- 
ment specially studied, with the exception of the burlesque 
performances in the evening, by far the largest percentage of 
attendants are between the ages of 15 and 25 years, varying 
from half the audience in some cases up to more than three- 
quarters of the audience in others. There are in Milwaukee 
about 80,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 25 years, 
or a little over 21% of the population. This 21% of the popu- 
lation evidently furnishes, therefore, over 50% of the attend- 
ance at various forms of theatrical entertainment. 

TABLE VI. 



AGE OF AUDIENCES AT DIFFERENT KINDS OF THEATERS. 





Under 


15 to 25 


Over 25 


15 Years. 


Years. 


Years. 


Moving picture ho uses, Sunday after- 








noon and evening audiences 


40% 


48% 


12% 


Moving picture houses, other 








evening-s 


14% 


52% 


34% 


Vaudeville, evening performances. . . 


5% 


63% 


32% 


Burlesque, evening performances. . . 


0% 


40% 


60% 


Burlesque, afternoon performances. . 


0% 


95% 


5% 


Neighborhood melodrama, Sunday 










8% 


76% 


16% 



One is impressed with the strong advantage possessed by 
the moving picture houses, in that they are bringing back to 
the people a form of family amusement. On account of the 
cheapness of admission the whole family can go together, and 



11 



whole families are frequently seen at these places, especially at 
Sunday afternoon and evening performances. From 1 to 5 
per cent of the attendance is frequently children under 5 years 
of age, who have been brought by their parents or older broth- 
ers and sisters. Milwaukee moving picture houses are superior 
to those of most cities at present in the lighting of the audience 
halls, an important safeguard to the morals of those who attend. 

DANCING ACADEMIES AND DANCE HALLS 

Dancing places of Milwaukee may be divided into two main 
classes, dancing academies and dance halls. The dancing aca- 
demies conduct what they call "socials" in addition to their 
regular classes and have dancing from 1 to 7 evenings per 
week. No liquor is sold and the dancing occupies the chief part 
of the program. Dance halls in turn may be divided into two 
classes : first, halls rented by some club ; second, halls or rooms 
connected with saloons, where the dance is directly or indi- 
rectly in charge of the proprietor of the saloon. 

The attendance at the dancing academies on 
AcadenSes a typical evening in the month of November, 

1911, was about 3,250, running over rather 
than under that figure. Their hour of closing is about mid- 
night, not running over that hour very much. The ages of 
those attending dancing academies vary chiefly between the 
years of 16 and 25. It is not supposed that any girl under 16 
shall be present, and from observation it seems that the police 
are genuinely trying to enforce this regulation. It is hard, 
however, when some of the young people falsify their ages, 
for a police officer who is a stranger to them to prove that 
they are not giving the correct age. 

Through the assistance of the Police Depart- 
JJ a » ce ment a census of the attendance at dance 

Halls 

halls was taken on Saturday and Sunday 
evenings, Nov. 11 and 12, 1911. Four thousand six hundred 
and seventy-six were listed as dancing in these halls on Satur- 
day evening, November 11. As many more were watching the 
dancing or joining in the social life in the buffets between 



12 



dancing, making a total attendance of somewhat over 9,300. 
The hours varied from 8 P. M. to 1 A. M., in certain cases, and 
from 8 P. M. to 4 or 5 A. M. in others. Sunday evening, No- 
vember 12, 1911, 1,905 people were listed as dancing in such 
dance halls, with from 1,700 to 2,000 more in attendance. The 
hours were shorter than on Saturday evenings, most of the 
dances closing by 12 o'clock Sunday night. The ages of those 
in attendance varied from 18 years up to 60. The older persons 
were in attendance chiefly at certain dances which were really 
family or neighborhood gatherings, rather than typical dance 
hall crowds. Two-thirds of those in attendance were between 
18 and 25 years of age. 

The quality of amusement furnished varies 
Quality of greatly. Some of the smaller dancing aca- 

FarlSSbed 1 demies furnish a very high order of enter- 

tainment, give their patrons real social train- 
ing, insist on propriety on the part of all who attend, and 
through having the same patrons over and over again, come 
to furnish a real supervision. As much cannot be said of one 
or two of the large academies where whatever may be the in- 
tentions of the management, the number and floating character 
of the patrons makes very little supervision possible. 

As a class the dancing academies furnish a much higher 
form of recreation than that given at any of the dance halls, 
where there is less time for dancing, each dance occupying 
about five minutes and the intermissions for refreshments oc- 
cupying from ten to twenty minutes, and where the hours are 
also later. A careful distinction should be made between dif- 
ferent types of dances in dance halls. A majority of them ap- 
peal chiefly to the younger people, are conducted by the young 
people themselves, and have practically no supervision or chap- 
eronage by older persons. These should be carefully marked 
from certain family gatherings where children of five go with 
their parents and many married couples are present with the 
younger people. These neighborhood social gatherings are of 
high order in furnishing fun and in the developing of a whole- 
some neighborhood feeling. The fact that they are held in a 
hall or room where liquor is sold is simply an incident. 



13 



In November, 1911, 12,000 or 13,000 was the 
summary average number of people in attendance at 

dancing places, both academies and dance halls, on each Satur- 
day evening. This was before the height of the season when 
there is a larger attendance. Of each Saturday night crowd 
in November, 1911, 8,000 or 9,000 were between 18 and 25 years 
of age, or about 14% of the entire number of young people in 
Milwaukee between those ages. Of this 8,000 or 9,000 about 
1,000 were in good surroundings in carefully supervised danc- 
ing academies and in family gatherings in halls where older 
people of the neighborhood were in attendance. About 2,500 
were in surroundings where there is little oversight. The re- 
maining 4,000 to 5,000 were in surroundings which make for 
coarseness, if nothing Avorse is said of them. Some of these 
latter named places are distinctly vicious. 

It should also be remembered that all these dancing places, 
even the worst of them, are better than dances at road-houses 
in the outskirts of the city where many would go if these halls 
in the city were closed and nothing better substituted. At 
these road-houses the young women who attend are in the 
power of those with whom they go, while even in the worst 
dance halls in the city it is possible, in spite of many tempta- 
tions to the contrary, for such young people to keep straight 
and get home at a reasonable hour. 

POOL, BILLIARDS AND BOWLING 

No careful study was made of these forms of amusement, 
but Table VII was compiled from the City Clerk's record of 
licenses issued. Only a small fraction of the pool tables are 
in regular pool and billiard parlors devoted chiefly to those 
games. The majority are single tables scattered in a little over 
800 saloons, and furnish an adjunct to that neighborhood place 
of amusement. 

TABLE! VII. 
POOL, BILLIARDS AND BOWLING. 



Pool places 842 

Pool tables 1,100 

Billiard places 24 

Billiard tables 61 

Bowling places 91 

Bowling alleys 271 



ACTIVITIES OF MILWAUKEE CHILDREN 



While surveying the amount of outdoor play 
; ™ space described in an earlier section of this 

report observations were made of what the children out-of- 
doors were doing. Table VIII shows results for the soundings, 
boundaries of which are given in Table III. Observations were 
made outside of school hours. Those who were listed as work- 
ing were chiefly going on errands, sawing wood, sweeping the 
sidewalk, and doing similar tasks. Playing was interpreted 
liberally and taken to include not only games but such activi- 
ties as climbing over wagons or running about the streets. 

TABLE VIII. 

WHAT CHILDREN WERE DOING OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL. 





Sounding I. 
No. % 


Sounding II. 
No. % 


Av. % for Total 
of 1,419 
Children 
Sounding III. and Young 
No. % People Seen. 


Working .... 


76 


10 


106 


23 


82 


15 


19% 


Playing 


149 


36 


131 


28 


163 


30 


31% 


Doing nothing 


190 


45 


226 


49 


296 


55 


50% 




415 


100% 


463 


100% 


541 


100% 





The most striking thing with regard to these 
D2i2g 1 Notking 1,419 children was the large percentage who 

were doing nothing ; in fact one out of every 
two, or more than one and one-half times as many as were play- 
ing. In view of the educational value of active games, and the 
dulling effect of listlessly doing nothing, there is evidently here 
an enormous education waste. Mischief, which is technically 
called in the courts "juvenile delinquency," and lack of initi- 
ative, which is called in the schools "dull stupidity," are the 
sure result of doing nothing. It would appear that a large per- 
centage of Milwaukee children are not only losing important 
educational possibilities, but are also developing many traits 
which must be educated out of them if they are to become use- 
ful citizens. 

The pupils of one of the high schools and of 

schoolchildren tne an( * S ra( ^ es throughout the dis- 
trict schools of the city were asked to write 
for 15 or 20 minutes on what they did with their spare time. 

14 



15 



The following instructions were given : 

''The chief object in these brief papers by the pupils is not 
to display literary form, grammar, or penmanship, but to learn 
the truth about what the pupils do outside of school. The 
essays need not be signed if this will make the pupils write 
more freely. It should be explained to the pupils that papers 
will not be read by their own teachers but will be used in plan- 
ning for better chances for boys and girls of the city to play 
and have a good time. Kindly ask them to be definite. If they 
say 'I went to a show,' tell what show. If they say 'I played," 
tell what they played and where. Each paper should be marked 
with School— Grade— Age of pupil and whether pupil is boy 
or girl. 

"What did you do last Saturday and Sunday, day time and 
evening ? 

"What did you do for fun outside of school hours? 

"How did you spend your spare time last week?" 

An average of a little over twenty-five papers was selected 
from each district keeping the number of papers from boys 
and girls approximately the same. The papers from each dis- 
trict were selected at random from the total number of papers 
handed in by that district, the purpose being to avoid in this 
way the selection of any special papers, owing to the arrange- 
ment of the children in their seats or to the arrangement of 
papers as to grammar or penmanship. Careful study was then 
made of 777 papers so selected from the South Division High 
School and from twenty-seven district schools. From each 
paper was recorded the activities spoken of both as recreation 
and work. Table IX summarizes the total number of papers 
mentioning each form of amusement, and also the percentage 
of the total number of children mentioning each form of 
amusement. 



16 



TABLE IX. 

ACTIVITIES REPORTED BY SCHOOL CHILDREN. 



% Total 
No. Children No. Children, 
Mentioning. i. e., 777. 



1 Outdoor games and sports 491 63.2 

2 Walking on street, shopping, watching games. 332 42.7 

3 Reading 458 58.9 

4 Home games 290 37.3 

5 Fancy work, music, etc 284 36.5 

6 Calling on friends, talking 385 49.4 

7 Shows and indoor roller skating 513 66.2 

8 Indoor sports, gymnasium, swimming 68 8.7 

9 Home work, chores, errands, etc 533 68.8 

10 Outside work, office, store, carrying papers, 

street lamp lighting 133 17.1 



From the study of these papers the following facts appear 
with regard to a typical group of Milwaukee children so se- 
lected as to avoid distortion by any unusual conditions. So- 
called ' 'shows'' are mentioned most frequently as a form of 
amusement. These are mostly moving picture shows. Outdoor 
games, mostly on streets and vacant lots, occupy the time of the 
boys more than of girls, who rely more on walking on the streets 
and visiting their friends. Home recreation takes chiefly the 
form of reading ; home games occupying a comparatively small 
place. Indoor gymnasia did not reach a large number at the 
time papers were written (November, 1911). Girls seem to have 
less variety of wholesome recreation than boys. 

Many pages of this report could be occupied 
PoHeemSn he with significant quotations from these pa- 

pers, but only a few which show facts should 
be remembered, will be given. One of the first things which 
impresses any one who reads a typical group of these papers 
is the fact that the children in Milwaukee as in other cities 
can not get the play which is perfectly wholesome and normal 
for them to have without being guilty of a misdemeanor. The 
policeman, as the one who stops play and who has to be looked 
out for, is frequently mentioned in these papers. It is, of 
course, not the fault of the policeman that he has to enforce 
the ordinances made necessary by the crowded conditions of 
city life. One boy wrote: "We have one drawback; when- 
ever we want to have a game of baseball or football, there is 
always the cop." Another boy wrote: "Then, (7:30 P. M.) 
I go out on the street and meet some more boys and stay there 



17 



till the police comes along and tells us to move. Then we go to 
the nickel show and spend the evening there. ' ' Another wrote : 
"The only places we have to play on is the road and the church- 
yard and there we get chased." Another boy wrote: 

"I do not spend much of my time in playing because if we play 
football or shinney on the road the police officer gets after us 

and no different place to play. And to walk to it is of 

no use going for it is quite far and when we go there we get 
our things stolen from the big boys." Another boy who had 
the beginnings of the gang instinct wrote: "We stand on the 
corner and play puzze-puzze corner and then when the nipper 
comes he chases us. And if a fella gets fresh to us the whole 
bunch lands on him." Another group of boys who had the ad- 
vantage of the use of part of one of the smaller parks of the 
city was represented by one of their number who wrote : ' ' The 
Park Commissioner said we could play football on a part of 

the park, but the grounds are too small there are a large 

number of boys who would like to play along, but there is not 

enough room and we do not like to go on another part of 

the park because the Park Commissioner will chase us away." 

The next most notable thing from a study 
Giris Have Less of these papers is the fact that the girls, at 
Tha^ d Boys Creati<m least those these papers, who wrote seem 

to have less to do for recreation than the 
boys. Most of them speak of helping with the housework at 
home but after that is done their chief form of amusement 
seems to be reading or walking with their friends. As one girl 
put it : "To go down town and rubber at the styles. ' ' It will 
be noticed in going over the dozen or more quotations here 
given that a majority of them are from boys. This was not due 
to the fact that more papers by boys were read than papers 
by girls, but is due to the fact that the boys' papers are usually 
more striking and interesting. This does not, however, show 
that the boys need to have more provisions made for their play 
than do the girls. The very fact that the girls' papers are less 
interesting because they have less to write about and the very 
humdrum nature of the life indicated by many of the girls' 
papers would rather emphasize the fact of their need of super- 
vised recreation. 



18 



The place of the nickel show brought out 
show* the summary is emphasized by many of 

the papers. Thus one girl who goes much 
of the time with her parents wrote : ''I spend most of my even- 
ings at the nickel shows." Another, who gave a not unusual 
program for Saturday afternoon and evening, wrote: i 'In the 

afternoon I went to the theater and to the and 

it was about 5 o 'clock as I came home. I ate supper and went 
to the theater." One youngster expressed his idea of a good 
show, saying : ' ' They had a very fine performance of a cowboy 
and an Indian maid." These quotations are not unusual but 
typical. 

The desire to get back to the old primitive 
use of activities of the race appear in many of the 

country dins boys' papers. They speak of making out- 

of-door ovens when they can get away into 
the outskirts of the city; of cooking out-of-doors; or strolling 
into the country and killing rabbits with sharp sticks; of plas- 
tering a side hill cave with clay. These papers would suggest 
that the organization of activities like this could turn them 
from haphazard delights of a few children into the regular 
educative pleasures of many. 

Mention has already been made in connec- 
Gansrs tion with one of the above quotations of the 

gang instinct. It was gratifying to find that in the case of 
some boys this was being organized and used in the form of 
clubs, either by churches or other private organizations. In 
many cases, however, it was not so organized, and the club was 
merely a gang of the boys' own making. As one of them wrote : 
"Then I went over in the coal yard and carved my initial in 
the club house." While the Board of School Directors could 
hardly encourage young people of the city carving their initials 
in school buildings, school recreation centers could use the club 
instinct and furnish some other place of meeting than a shanty 
in the coal yard. Another boy puts his hint with delightful 
naivete : "but I like to play basket ball in the evening if we had 
a hall." 

An inquiry was addressed to the principals 
Reports of of the various district schools with regard 

to the principal's own knowledge anil belief 



19 



as to the opportunities for home recreation of the majority of 
their pupils. Of the fifty-one principals who answered this ques- 
tion, twenty-two said that the majority of their pupils had 
poor opportunities for home recreation ; twelve said that these 
home opportunities were fair; seventeen that these opportuni- 
ties were good. Further consultation with the principals is 
necessary to learn whether they applied the terms "fair" and 
"good" to the homes or to the recreational facilities therein. 
Many children living in flats or small houses, with little or no 
yard space, have poor opportunities for home recreation, de- 
spite the fact that their homes are good homes. 

QUALITY OF RECREATION 

No description of the forms of recreation is successful un- 
less it makes possible a judgment upon the quality of recre- 
ation. Recreation is not mere busy work. Busy work may be 
valuable as a preventive of worse uses of spare time, but in 
organizing recreation a prime consideration is its constructive 
value. 

standards of There are three standards for judging the 

it ^ecfeatron lty quality of recreation. First, is the purely 
recreative standard. Does the given form of 
recreation make the persons using it more 
or less fit for their regular life work? A second standard is 
the educational standard for both physical and mental educa- 
tion. Does the given form of recreation, while perhaps not 
sought directly for physical development, bring that develop- 
ment along with the pleasure obtained? On the side of mental 
development, does the given form of recreation build up habits 
of quick thinking, of initiative in dealing with new situations, 
of self control, of ability to work with others in the give and 
take of group activities? Third, and most important, is the 
moral standard. Does the given form of recreation make it 
easier or harder for those who engage in it to live a clean, 
courageous and generous life? 

Judgment of each of the forms of recreation 
Application already described is here omitted, but two 

standards or three essential facts must be noted. 

Judged by the moral standard much of the 



20 



outdoor play of Milwaukee children is harmful because the 
children have constantly to avoid the police. Many of the 
school children wrote of the necessity of avoiding the police 
while trying to play football, baseball, shinney, and other 
games. This was no fault of the police who had to enforce 
regulations for the proper use of the streets. But this fear, 
probably vigilance would be the better term, on the part of 
the children toward the officers of the law has a genuinely 
harmful effect on the children in breaking down in their minds 
the distinction between that which is forbidden because it is 
really wrong and that which is forbidden because it is incon- 
venient under the peculiar conditions of city life. 

On applying the educational standard to the moving pic- 
ture shows one is impressed with the educational opportunity 
which is going to waste. History, geography, literature and 
many forms of natural science can be illustrated by well se- 
lected films. The ideals of life shown by the heroes of moving 
picture dramas are quickly caught and imitated by the young 
patrons. Most of these educational possibilities are at present 
either misused or unsued. 

In regard to all forms of theatrical amusement, one virtue 
and one defect should be noted. Their recreative value for a 
person tired out is high, chiefly because they make no demand 
on the spectator. It is a passive form of amusement. This very 
virtue contains the chief defect. The best elements in char- 
acter are not developed passively, but through self-activity, no 
opportunity for which is furnished by a theatrical form of 
amusement. 

Judgments upon the quality of recreation furnished by the 
dancing, pool, bowling and billiard facilities of the city are 
based not on the form of amusement itself but upon the sur- 
roundings usually attending them. The recreative value of all 
of them may be high and the educational and moral value fair. 
As a matter of fact, since the young people frequently can not 
find these forms of amusement in decent surroundings the rec- 
reative value is often low, the educative and moral value lack- 
ing, and the general influence vicious. 



PART II— DISCUSSION 



PURPOSE OF A RECREATION SYSTEM 

Milwaukee, like many American cities, is 
Delinquency feeling in a dozen different ways the 

congestion which every growing city expe- 
riences. One of the effects of this congestion is to reduce the 
amount of play space out-of-doors for children; to make the 
cost of land so great that the houses are necessarily small and 
poorly adapted to home recreation. Many boys and girls are 
brought before the juvenile courts for misdemeanors which 
have grown directly out of the play spirit thwarted or mis- 
directed. Thousands more, who never are brought into the 
juvenile court, form habits of evasion and of clandestine amuse- 
ment of a poor type. 

A really valuable recreation system attempts 
c£a?act?r P constructive educational work, not in the 

way of direct instruction, but in the way 
of habit formation. It is a genuine waste to employ an ex- 
pensive force of teachers to work with the children and young 
people of the city for five hours each school day, and then 
have these same young people, on account of the waste or 
harmful use of their spare time, form such habits of character 
that this expensive education is not turned into channels of 
real value both to the individual and the community. 

No community is genuinely a good dwelling 
worth k Lmif| place unless its people have a chance "to 

earn a life as well as a living." Thus a 
recreation system takes its place beside other efforts to im- 
prove conditions of life in a city the size of Milwaukee. It 
comes in response to a growing realization that people need 
not only wholesome water, milk, food, houses, but also whole- 
some opportunities to spend their spare time, the time which is 
really their own. 

A COMPREHENSIVE RECREATION SYSTEM FOR MILWAUKEE 

It is with a good deal of hesitation that the subject of a 
comprehensive plan for recreation in Milwaukee is approached. 

21 



22 



If a far look is taken into the future an investigator lays him- 
self open to the criticism of dreaming impossible dreams. But 
the next steps can be taken more intelligently if there is some 
idea of what the city may be ultimately seeking. Several cities 
which have already spent large sums on recreation are waking 
up to the fact that much has been wasted because they have 
used a patchwork method rather than a system. Since one of 
the purposes of this investigation was to suggest such a com- 
prehensive outline, it is presented, but it must be realized that 
the plan cannot be completely carried out for some time. 

For children under ten years certain cities 
YoSiSer 1 children are aniim & to secure a play space within five 

minutes' walk of the home of every such 
child, and this is a good working rule. The study by Philadel- 
phia authorities of certain playgrounds in that city, 98% of the 
attendance at which is fourteen years of age or under, showed 
that 74% of this attendance was from homes within three 
blocks of such playgrounds for younger children. In short, the 
radius of efficiency of such playgrounds for younger children 
is from one-quarter to one-half mile. This is due to the fact 
that most parents do not wish their young children to go far 
from home. 

For children over ten and young people over 
piay Fields for sixteen years there would be in such a com- 
Ymmg^eopil 11 and prehensive system a larger play field within 

twenty minutes' walk of their homes. If 
their play were confined to Saturdays and Sundays they could 
go even a greater distance, but some provision has to be made 
for the out-of-door sports of such young people in the short 
space of time out of school or after working hours. Some at- 
tempt would also be made to organize the out-of-door instincts 
by leading long walks into the surrounding country on Satur- 
days and Sundays. 

Such a comprehensive system would seek to 
Indoor provide indoor recreation centers for both 

clnteTs" 011 young and old. These could be arranged in 

connection with the larger play fields and 
would be as numerous as those fields. In planning for these 



23 



centers it is better to use the neighborhood as the standard 
rather than a standard of one center to so many thousand peo- 
ple or one center within each circle of given radius. By such 
a standard a city should seek to have a social center within the 
reach of every group of people who had no other neighborhood 
meeting place. 

Such a system comprehends not only those 
Recreation Facm- forms directly under the control of various 
Public control city departments, such as those mentioned 

in preceding paragraphs, but also those 
forms under the control of other agencies, commercial or 
philanthropic. By influencing commercial forms of recreation 
and co-operating with private agencies, the public recreation 
system may mould the development of the recreational life of 
the community as a whole. The city can do much through pub- 
lic facilities ; it never can do all in providing recreation for its 
citizens. 

SUPERVISION 

The prime essential in any recreation work is adequate, well 
trained, and efficient leadership. There may be an imposing 
scheme on paper and a running system with an inventory of 
equipment and buildings showing thousands of dollars worth 
of property and still the system be ineffective and wasteful. 
There are cities where the buildings are inferior and the equip- 
ment very moderate, but where, owing to the quality and en- 
thusiasm of the directors, a very high grade of work is being 
done. It is a safe rule to spend twice as much on supervision 
as on any special form of equipment. 

A general supervisor is needed to take gen- 
E oree -~ eral oversight of the entire recreational 

Necessary ° 

work. Each indoor recreation center during 
the winter and each playground during the summer should 
have a director and an assistant director. It has been usually 
found most helpful to have one of these positions for each cen- 
ter and playground occupied by a man who looks out for the 
work for the boys and young men, and the other position occu- 
pied by a woman who looks out for for the recreation of the 



24 



girls and young women. The same directors and assistant di- 
rectors who are used in the recreation centers in the winter can 
be used in the playgrounds in the summer. Thus if an all 
year round position is furnished, a better grade of service can 
be obtained. To such a director and assistant director in each 
recreation center or playground should be added from one to 
four part time helpers, i. e., men or women who give assistance 
for single sessions for particular clubs or forms of work in 
the center, or for certain hours during the summer. The em- 
ployment of these two classes of workers gives the advantage, 
first, in the all the year workers of a nucleus of people who 
know constantly and intimately the neighborhoods in which 
they work ; and second, the advantage, in the use of part time 
helpers, of securing adequate assistance at an expense for only 
such time as such additional assistance is necessary. 

TABLE X. 

SALARIES PAID IN VARIOUS CITIES FOR DIFFERENT GRADES OF 
SUPERVISION OF RECREATION. 



o 



o "8 



t> © « u ^ ci © ^u^u Lufl 

S tJMg| ^tJ £|a& g|©.2 

do Qgu oU <Q H&flQre 

Chicago — 

South Park $3,000 to $125 mo. $80 to $110 $75 mo. 

$4,200 yr. mo. 
Lincoln Park $1,800 to $75 to $125 $80 to $110 

$2,400 yr. mo. mo. 

Special Park $2,000 yr. $85 to $100 $60 to 

(1) mo. $80 mo. 

Baltimore — 
Public Athletic 

League $1,500 yr. $60 to $75 $40 to $60 

(2) mo. mo. 

Playground Assn . . $50 to $60 $40 to $45 $1.50 to 

mo. (4) mo. $2 

Buffalo $1,500 yr. $85 mo. $65 mo. 

(3) 

St. Louis $75 mo. $45 mo. 

(5) 

New York City... $4 session $1.75-$2.50 

session 

Newark $85 mo. $50 to 

$70 mo. 

Pittsburgh $150 mo. $80 to $1.70 to 

$90 mo. $3 (7) 

Philadelphia $45-$47.50 $1 to 

mo. (6) $2 

(1) Additional administrative expense — Secretary $1,800 yr., Stenographer 

$840 yr. 

(2) Additional administrative expense — Director $3,500 yr., Stenographer 
and office boy $1,050, Medical Director $2,000. 

(3) Additional administrative expense — Secretary $1,500. 

(4) Six hours per day. 

(5) Four hours per day. 

(6) Half day. 

(7) Substitutes. 



25 



Table X shows what other cities are paying 
£ ost of f or different grades of service as far as re- 

super vision 

ports were available at time of writing. To 
get complete cost of system, aside for from outlays for land 
and buildings and permanent equipment, the expense of janitor 
service and supplies must be added to figures for supervision. 

Experience has shown that school teachers are 
school Teachers often very useful as part time helpers who 
mrectwrT" 011 give one or two evenings or afternoons per 

week to such work, or who may, in the case 
of especially strong physique, work during the summer on the 
playgrounds, but that it is impossible for regular teachers to 
do the work of a director or assistant director adequately while 
also employed in school work. If school teachers attempt to 
do both their regular work and put in a considerable part of 
each week in such playground and recreation center activities, 
either their regular school work will suffer or their recreation 
center and playground work will be neglected, or their health 
will break down. It should also be remembered that certain 
teachers who are excellent drill masters and from whom noth- 
ing more could be asked in improving the quality of instruc- 
tion which they give, are entirely unfit for winning the sym- 
pathy of children and young people, of getting that close and 
intimate acquaintance with them which is essential for real 
play leadership. 

CO-OPERATION OF VARIOUS CITY DEPARTMENTS IN 
A COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM 

Milwaukee is already doing something for the recreation life 
of her citizens ; the problem comes as to how to correlate these 
various efforts and how to build any future work on these foun- 
dation ■. In short, the problem is to use the present facilities 
under the control of the city up to their limit, to provide ade- 
quat ly for the recreation of its present population, and to 
plan for its inevitable future growth in population. 

No one board can provide an adequate recrea- 
co-ope^rafion 11 tion s y stem for Milwaukee, but through the 

co-operation of several boards such a system 
is po He. The Park Board is already conducting a certain 
mim 1 - of playgrounds without very much supervision. The 



26 



School Board is planning to provide supervision for a certain 
number of playgrounds under its own control. Certain cities 
have been able to work out a method of co-operation between 
these two boards where in certain places the sites and appa- 
ratus are furnished by the Park Board and supervision is 
furnished by the School Board. 

A branch library adds greatly to the usefulness of a recre- 
ation center. In turn such a center can house a branch library 
at a considerable saving in rent to the Library Board. Fur- 
thermore, the introduction of story telling into the recreation 
centers, either by experienced story tellers employed by the 
Library Board, or by the directors of the recreation centers, 
following the suggestions of the Library Board's workers, ex- 
tends the usefulness both of the library and of the recreation 
centers. 

In two or three cases in Milwaukee a natatorium is already 
placed near a playground. Such location of the natatorium 
makes it equally valuable to the rest of the community and 
adds much to the effectiveness of the playground. The loca- 
tion of the new natatorium in the Third Ward or the possible 
location of a new natatorium near Lapham Park are cases in 
point. 

Reference has already been made in the first 
piay et P art °^ ^is report to the large amount of 

street space in different parts of the city. Be- 
tween thirty and forty per cent of the ground space in each of 
the sections specially surveyed was so occupied by streets and 
alleys. Over half of these streets are used only for delivery 
traffic. This delivering is largely done during school hours. 
By reserving streets here and there in such a way as not to 
block the traffic, the city could at once provide play spaces 
without the immediate expenditure of large sums of money 
for new sites for playgrounds. Such action would not be rev- 
olutionary, because it would be merely extending to other sea- 
sons of the year the plan already in use of reserving certain 
streets for coasting in the winter. With proper supervision 
such games as volley ball, basket ball, indoor baseball and 
many ring games and running games could be played on such 
reserved streets. For such use of the streets there would be 
needed the co-operation of the property owners along the 



27 



street, of the Department of Public Works, of the Police De- 
partment in enforcing the reservation of such streets — al- 
though after the first three or four months, during which time 
the public will have become used to it, such reservation would 
enforce itself almost automatically— and the co-operation of 
whatever board furnishes the supervision. This last would 
most naturally be the School Board if it carries out its plans 
of having some supervisory force for its own recreation center 
and playground work. 

The City Planning Commission has in mind 
The Recreation certain recreation centers in connection with 
!i^ e pia ! a nd the the neighborhood centers it has outlined. While 

the City Planning Commission works out the 
location of these recreation centers along the line of its gen- 
eral plan for the city, the actual supervision and maintenance 
of such centers would fall to the control of some other board. 
The care of the physical property and equipment might fall to 
the Park Board, the supervision to the School Board, follow- 
ing the plan already suggested. Duplication in the provision 
of sites and equipment could be avoided by adopting some 
working basis such as this: The Park Board or whatever ad- 
ministrative body has charge of the recreation centers pro- 
vided by the City Planning Commission's outline could control 
the larger play spaces needed for the older children and young 
people, and the recreation centers in connection therewith ; the 
School Board, on the other hand, which already possesses a 
number of grounds well located throughout the city, could 
control the playgrounds for the smaller children who require a 
larger number of grounds, but do not require so much space 
in any one ground. Since there are many preliminary steps to 
be taken there is little danger that any work which the School 
Boa,rd may do the next few years in the way of recreation cen- 
ters in its school buildings will duplicate the work of any 
other body. 

A JOINT ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON RECREATION 

The next problem of practical importance is how to secure 
this co-operation which is essential to the securing of a com- 
prehensive system. One method is through a Recreation 
Commission. Such a commission has certain distinct advan- 
tages. One of the chief of these is that it is a single board 



28 



with one special problem, and hence likely to give that special 
problem its exclusive attention. On the other hand, it has a 
distinct disadvantage in that it is likely to come in conflict 
with other administrative boards which are in charge of their 
own important problems and hence cautious in allowing a 
Recreation Commission to do things which may interfere with 
the regular work delegated to such boards. 

On account of the questions in regard to the legality of 
such a Recreation Commission here in Milwaukee under the 
present charter, and on account of the legislation of last spring, 
the formation of a Recreation Commission would be distinctly 
inadvisable at the present time at least. Hence the question 
arises whether it is not possible to secure much of the object 
set before such a commission in another way. For this pur- 
pose the gradual growth of a joint advisory committee made 
up of representatives of the various city departments which 
do work affecting recreation is suggested. Such a joint ad- 
visory committee would be similar to a recreation commission 
in that its purpose would be to secure team work between the 
different departments affecting recreation. This is the chief 
purpose of a Recreation Commission. Such a joint advisory 
committee would be different from a Recreation Commission 
in that each department would still retain complete control 
over whatever work is already delegated to it. 

It will be noticed that the word " growth" is used in regard 
to such a committee. Whether this committee shall gradually 
come into being owing to real administrative needs or whether 
it shall be immediately formed depends upon conditions. If 
the immediate formation of such a committee will immediately 
secure the team work desired, such immediate formation is 
desirable. It seems probable, however, that the most success- 
ful joint committee will be the result of growth. By growth 
is not meant any vague and indefinite process to take place 
some time when nobody knows anything about it, but a devel- 
opment in response to felt needs and recognized problems. 
First stages in this growth as affecting the summer playgrounds 
and school recreation centers in 1912 would take place very 
soon. 

REGULATING AND INFLUENCING COMMERCIAL RECREATION 
In regard to commercial recreation, it should be remembered 



29 



that recreation is not necessarily bad because it is given on a 
commercial basis. Those who furnish commercial recreation 
are simply meeting a normal demand, just as house builders 
and grocers are meeting a normal demand. On the other hand, 
this does not mean that such commercial recreations should 
not be regulated. There are housing laws and regulations to 
prevent the sale of unwholesome food products. There is no 
reason why there should not also be attempts to prevent the 
sale of unwholesome recreation. 

The question now arises what form this reg- 
subjects of ulation should take. For clearness two 

iiuiuencL 011 and words, regulation and influence, are used. 

By regulation is meant direct effect by ordi- 
nances and the action of administrative officers. By influence 
is meant that indirect control through conference with owners 
of commercial recreation facilities, or, if necessary, competition 
with them. In general it may be said that direct regulation 
can be turned best toward certain external features. The 
ventilation, the number of fire exits, the cleanliness of thea- 
ters and moving picture shows are items of such direct regula- 
tion. The relation of dance halls to saloons and to hotels and 
rooming houses are other features for such direct regulation. 
The quality of entertainment can best be subject to indirect 
influence. 

Influence through conference is possible in 
confe?ence y the case of moving picture shows. The own- 

ers of many of these houses probably would 
be willing to allow a representative of the proper city board, 
perhaps of the Board of School Directors, to select the pictures 
and songs on certain evenings of the week. The owners of 
these houses have no malign intention in the selection of their 
pictures. They are simply anxious to get the pictures which 
will be popular. The fact that these pictures have improved 
greatly within the last few years and that the manufacturers 
have voluntarily submitted to a form of censorship of their 
films, shows the fact that the exhibitors appreciate the busi- 
ness advantage of running a type of performance which does 
not offend the taste or the moral feeling of the large common 
element in the population. This same business instinct of the 
exhibitors can be used by showing them the advertising value 



30 



of the fact that the pictures on given days of the week are 
those selected by some well recognized body of citizens. 

Influence through competition is possible in 
influence the case of dance halls. Young people do 

cJmiStition n °t dance in poorly lighted halls, where the 

surroundings are unattractive and where the 
form of entertainment is in the hands of those who are not 
seeking the best interests of their patrons, because they like 
them, but because they can secure nothing better for the money 
they have or because they know of no better form of entertain- 
ment. The same can be said of pool playing under certain 
conditions and of certain social clubs. Give a decent, well 
regulated dance or series of dances in a school house or recrea- 
tion building, have games such as pool and billiards and facili- 
ties for clean, wholesome club life under the supervision of an 
older person who understands young people, and in no very 
long time the better form of entertainment will win through 
its own attractiveness. 

CO-OPERATING WITH PHILANTHOPIC ORGANIZATIONS 
FURNISHING RECREATION 

There are many enterprises of a philanthropic character in 
Milwaukee which furnish a certain amount of recreation, such 
as settlements, boys' clubs, churches, Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., 
and other similar organizations. With nearly 400,000 people 
in Milwaukee, with 150,000 to 200,000 children and young 
people in the city, the work of any private organization fur- 
nishing a good type of recreation should be welcomed. Co- 
operation with such organizations can take two forms, with- 
holding competition and loaning facilities where this is prac- 
ticable. 

As a means of helping rather than harm- 
competui^n fully competing with such organizations, one 

of the tasks of any of the administrative 
bodies of the city which try to secure a comprehensive devel- 
opment of the recreational life of the city would be to com- 
plete, by local workers, a survey of such private organizations, 
the amount and quality of recreation which they furnish, and 
the number and ages of the people whom they reach. In any 
extensions of the recreational work regard would be had for 
these outside forces. If any neighborhood is being adequately 



31 

supplied by them, extensions would naturally first go to other 
neighborhoods not so supplied. 

Many cities find that the recreational facili- 
Facmties ^ es un( ^ er the control of the city government 

are a distinct help to the work of such pri- 
vate organizations. Buffalo furnishes from its regular force in 
the employ of the City Recreation Commission gymnasium 
leaders for private organizations who have halls, but are unable 
to furnish leadership. Chicago frequently loans the halls of 
its recreation centers to private clubs who wish the halls for 
holding entertainments, open meetings, bazaars, etc. In cer- 
tain cities private citizens or groups of people give or loan 
vacant lots and the city, through the proper board, furnishes 
the supervision. The job in Milwaukee is big enough to re- 
quire all the efforts of the city's administrative departments 
and all the help which can be obtained from private sources. 

TABLE II. 

PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE BETWEEN 4 
AND 19 YEARS OF AGE IN THE TOTAL POPULATION OF 
MILWAUKEE BY WARDS, 1910 AND 1911. 



Per cent above or 

Ward No. between 4-19 years Per cent of total population below average % for 
June, 1911 of Ward, from 4-19 years whole city, i.e. 31% 



1 


1,836 


19 


12— 


2 


1,702 


17 


14 — 


3 


1,110 


15 


16 — 


4. . . . 


1,336 


12 


19— 


5 


2,247 


22 


9— 


6 


4,087 


28 


3 — 


7. . . . 


752 


10 


21 — 


8 


2,744 


25 


6 — 


9 


5,616 


30 


1 — 


10 


6,131 


32 


i + 


11. . . . 


11,259 


37 


6 + 


12 


4,017 


29 


2 — 


13 


6,657 


32 


1 + 


14 


16,105 


49 


18 + 


15 


4,271 


24 


7 — 


16 


3,441 


23 


8 — 


17 


5,465 


34 


3 + 


18 


5,946 


30 


1— 


19 


4,648 


32 


1 + 


20 


9,825 


36 


5 + 


21 


8,255 


39 


8 + 


22 


6,133 


32 


1 + 


23 


3,150 


25 


6 — 


Total 


116,733 







Note: Ward lines are those in force in 1910. 



TABLE III. 
OUTDOOR PLAY SPACE. 

Sounding I, bounded by Vliet, Twelfth, Walnut and Seventeenth 
Streets, in Ward 9. 

Sounding II, bounded by Maple Street, First, Greenfield and 
Sixth Avenues, Ward 11. 

Sounding III, bounded by Lincoln and Eighth Avenues, Midland 
and Cleveland Streets, Ward 14. 



Sounding I. Sounding II. Sounding III. 

Acres. % Acres. % Acres. % 



General Distribution of Land. 














25.34 


37 


35.5 


35 


30.3 


34 


OtliPT* land 


41.49 


o 


ftK 



65 


57.2 


ft ft 

o 


Total 


66.83 


100 


100.5 


100 


87.5 


.100 


JLrloLIlSJSALlOU vPX JJttllUL l^HJL 














i^-^- ^t_Gi aTx^- C /\?J A i 1 iChT.TC 














rui/lil jJidj ojJdi^t; 


73 

• 1 o 


1.8 


0. 


0. 


.9 


1.6 


Privately owned, usable 














for play 


.41 


1. 


.58 


.9 


1.77 


3.1 


Privatplv nwtipd nppds 














grading to be usable 
















0. 


0. 


.14 


.2 


7.34 


12.8 


.Lid. W 11, pidy IlOU dllUWtiU. 






2.01 


3.1 


.52 


.9 


^jccupiea uy gdiueiib, 














storage yards, etc . . . 




97.2 


3.95 


6.1 


7.88 


13.8 


Occupied by houses and 














intpr^nflpfs Ipsr than 














25x25 feet 






58.32 


89.7 38.79 


67.8 


Total 


41.49 


1 A A 

100 


00 


100 


57.20 


1 n a 
1UU 


XlailllC U »t? 1)1 Oil Ct/lS c 1 1 1 11 














Alleys. 














Heavy traffic dangerous 
















7 QS 


31 


8.6 


24 


3.4 


11 


Delivery traffic, inter- 














mittent play possible 


1 H Q ft 


69 


26.9 


76 


26.9 


89 


Total 


25.34 




100 


35.5 


100 


30.3 




100 


Number Children and 














Vaii -ST! CP T*£kfVnl 
JX ULifi.^ X KD\J^J1X5 












% 




No. 


% 


No. 


% 


No. 




646 




ft K E 
ODD 


46 


1,021 


K 9 
OA 


11 to 15 years 


375 


27.5 


403 


28 


549 


28 




338 


25 


377 


26 


387 


20 


Total, 4 to 19 years. . . 


1,359 


100 


1,435 


100 


1,957 


100 


Adequacy of Outdoor Play 














Space. 














Number who can play 














on usable public and 














private play space 














(reckoning 300 play- 














ing per acre) 


342 


34 


174 


16 


801 


51 


Number who must play 














in streets, alleys, out 














of district, or not play 


679 


66 


884 


84 


769 


49 


Total children, 4 to 15 
















1,021 


100 


1,058 


100 


1,570 


100 



MILWAUKEE 
BUREAU OF ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 



STAFF 



M. Cerf, Accountant ^- £• Goodell, Cost Accountant 

Formerly with Ernest Reckitt & Co. Formerly with Marwick, Mitchell & Co. 

Chicago Chicago 



Fayette H. Elwell, Accountant 
Percy H. Myers Formerly Professor of Accounting 

Accountant and Editor Marquette University 



J. B. Tanner 

Certified Public Accountant, 
Cleveland 



S. M. Gunn, Sanitarian 

Asst. Prof. Public Health 
Mass. Inst, of Technology 



Ray Palmer 
Consulting Engineer, Chicago 



J. C. Duncan, Accountant 

Asst. Prof. Accounting 
University of Illinois 



ENGAGED ON SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS 



Edith Shatto 
Secretary Commission on Tuberculosis 



Wilbur C. Phillips 

Secretary Child Welfare Commission 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



042 014 008 3 

MILWAUKEE 
BUREAU OF ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 



BULLETINS ISSUED 

* 1 . Plan and Methods 
* 2. Alarm Telegraph Systems 

* 3. Garnishment of Wages — Published by Wisconsin Bureau of Labor 
* 4. Women's Wages — Published by Wisconsin Consumers' League 

5. The Refuse Incinerator 
6. Citizens' Free Employment Bureau 
7. Free Legal Aid 

* 8. The Newsboys of Milwaukee— Published by Industrial Commission 

9. Review of the Bureau's Work 
10. Plumbing and House Drain Inspection 
I t . Water Works Efficiency — !. Water Waste Survey 
12. Garbage Collection 
13. Health Department— 1 . Milk Supply 
14. Water Works Efficiency— 2. Present Capacity and Future Requirements 
15. Health Department— 2. Education and Publications 
16. Water Works Efficiency— 3. Operating Efficiency 
17. Recreation Survey 



READY FOR PRESS 
Health Department — Construction and Operation of Sewers 

Communicable Diseases Water Works Efficiency— 

Ash and Rubbish Collection Electrolysis of Water Pipes 



STUDIES IN PROGRESS 



Taxes — 

General Assessment Methods 
Accounting and Business Procedure 
Special Assessments 

Purchase Methods 

Water Works Efficiency 

Accounting and Business Procedure 
Water Rates 

Management of Public Structures 

Sewers- 
Accounting and Business Procedure 



* Out of print. 



Health and Sanitation — 

Sanitary Inspection 

Infant Mortality 

Meat and Foods 
Organization — 

General City Government 

Public Works Department 
Street Construction 
Street Cleaning 

City Engineer's Office 

Accounting and Business Procedure 
Filing System 



Hollinger Corp. 
pH 8.5 




Hollinger Corp. 
P H 8.5 



